After moving from GoDaddy to SiteGround WordPress Hosting and I started to write a new post, I couldn’t upload an image to the new post and this message appeared:
Unable to Create Directory wp-content/uploads. Is its Parent Directory Writable by the Server.
First of all I thought that the problem may be from the permissions on the new server. I connected to my FTP server using FileZilla and started to check the wp-content/uploads via FTP and I found that the folder of the current month is present. After that I thought that the cause of the problem may be file permissions as WordPress is unable to write/edit the parent folder, so I changed the permissions through FTP but I still can’t upload files to media library and still getting “Unable to Create Directory wp-content/uploads. Is its Parent Directory Writable by the Server” error when I try to upload the files even after changing the browser.
How to solve “Unable to Create Directory wp-content/uploads. Is its Parent Directory Writable by the Server” error
The cause of this error is that the wp-content/uploads folder does not exist because when I installed WordPress on the old server it automatically extracted the old path for uploads folder. The old path includes the user account on the server and when I migrated to the new server the username changed so for WordPress the file does not exist.
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To solve this annoying error all what you need to do is changing the path of the old uploads folder to the new one. Follow these steps to solve the problem:
- Log in to your WordPress admin panel (wp-admin).
- In the left menu go to Settings » Media.
- In the Store uploads in this folder field enter:
wp-content/uploadsand click Save changes.
- Now you are done, go and try to upload files to the media library again.
NOTE: make sure that the Store uploads in this folder field contain wp-content/uploads only.
I can’t find the “Store uploads in this folder” field in my Media Settings page?
If you can’t find the field in your media settings page you can solve the problem by adding the following code in your “wp-config.php” file:
define( 'UPLOADS', 'wp-content/uploads' );
but, make sure to add the code before this line:
require_once(ABSPATH . 'wp-settings.php');
And the “Unable to Create Directory wp-content/uploads. Is its Parent Directory Writable by the Server” error will be solved.
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Do you still get the “Unable to Create Directory wp-content/uploads…” error message?
If you couldn’t solve the problem and the “Unable to Create Directory wp-content/uploads. Is its Parent Directory Writable by the Server” error message still appearing, let me know by adding a comment below and I will help you to fix the problem.
Thanks so much! This worked like a charm!
thank You so much, Now i can Upload Media file Successfully,
Hi! I’m having the same error msg even after I made those changes to the wp-config.php. I’m using a localhost/ in MacOSX. How I can change the permissions to 777, I don’t know how to do that!? Thanks for your help man.
i have the same issue. using localhost on mac and there is no uploads folder in the wp-content folder.
Ahmed, you’re awesome! This was such an easy fix. Thank you so much!
Glad I could help!
Thanks for your comment.
Hi there Ahmed and thanks so much for what you do, helping everyone with their problems. I am running NGINX on Centos6 on VPS. I am getting this message, and nothing has worked to fix it. I searched WP for the string of the error message and it is printed from file “wp-admin/included/file.php”. I took out some “@” signs (error message suppression) to try to get some additional info. The resulting error message is:
Warning: move_uploaded_file(/var/www/mysite.com/html/script/wp-content/uploads/7.png): failed to open stream: Permission denied in /var/www/mysite.com/html/script/wp-admin/includes/file.php on line 376
Warning: move_uploaded_file(): Unable to move ‘/tmp/php3rLFVm’ to ‘/var/www/mysite.com/html/script/wp-content/uploads/7.png’ in /var/www/mysite.com/html/script/wp-admin/includes/file.php on line 376
“7.png” has failed to upload.
The uploaded file could not be moved to wp-content/uploads.
A quick check of folder “/tmp” shows no temp file there. The error is “failed to open stream”. It seems to the PHP upload to /tmp is failing. Maybe this has nothing to do at all with WP. I set the /tmp folder owner to same owner as NGINX and with read write permissions. Anything else you can think of that could help debug/fix this? Thanks again so much.
Hey Peter,
The problem seems to be with permissions, I suggest you call your hosting support and they should fix it.
All the best.
Hi there Me. Ahmed, and thanks for reply. I continued to debug this, and after temporarily chmod uploads folder to 777, I could upload and I noticed the owner of the uploaded file was “apache”! But I don’t have user “apache” on my system. Nginx and php-fpm are user “www-data”, no idea where user “apache” is coming from. But I chowned uploads folder to “apache” and it seems to work now with folder permissions set back to 755. Thanks again for your helpful blog!
Thanks for your comment, as I said it is with permissions.
Glad I could help.
Thanks so much. Your solution worked a treat. Even though I followed the instructions I was still expecting to have to spend a lot of time tweaking to make things work for me. But not at all. Problem solved in less than five minutes. Thanks so much
Glad it helped.
Thanks Ahmed – God bless u ..
Thanks for your comment Jack.
Hi,
I have no “Store uploads in this folder” field in my Media Settings page,
So I used the code
define( ‘UPLOADS’, ‘wp-content/uploads’ ); before the line of
require_once(ABSPATH . ‘wp-settings.php’); on config.php
But still no “Store uploads in this folder” in my Media Settings page.any suggestions?
This should solve the problem, not for showing the “Store uploads in this folder” in media settings page.
Try to upload files again.
I was try your all recomendation. But not works. Any solutions?
Contact your hosting provider.
Hi,
I’ve tried all of the above and still coming up with the same error.
Thanks
Contact your host, the problem may be at their end.
You have no clue how many hours I spent trying to fix this issue. Thanks for your post, you just saved my brain of going crazy.
Thank You so much. This solved my problem after moving my site to a new server. It is all so complicated and looked for several day before I found your solution. Thanks again for taking time to provide help.
hello. i am using local host server and getting error
Unable to create directory wp-content/uploads/2017/05. Is its parent directory writable by the server? i tried both above solutions and still getting the error..any suggestions?
I met the same problem as you.
New installation on AWS with NGINX
Using ‘define( ‘UPLOADS’, ‘wp-content/uploads’ );’ just renders my website dead
Only way was to give the folder 777 even 775 won’t work. Is there a way to just give 777 permission to NGINX or a particular user in this case?
Cannot leave it to 777 for reasons you’ve already touched upon
Hello Ahmed,
I am completely new to WordPress, and I receive the following error message “Unable to moved to wp-content/uploads/2017/02” while trying to upload any kind of files. Could you please help me with this? Looking forward to your reply.
Thanks.
Hi Athria,
If you tried all the solutions above and you still can’t upload files to WordPress. I suggest that you contact your hosting support team, and ask them to fix the issue.
please sir, i have added define( ‘UPLOADS’, ‘wp-content/uploads’ ); to the wp-config.php file but that did not work, so how do i set the file permission to 775??
I don’t recommend changing file permissions (for Security). Yet, you can change them using FTP program like FileZilla. Then connect to your FTP server using FileZilla, right click on the file / folder you want » choose File permissions… » and write the new permission in the Numeric value field and click OK.
I have put that line as you said but it did not work. It can’t be hosting problem because i have other wordpress websites and they are working fine. So now how to resolve it?
In this case you can contact your hosting company as the problem might be with file permissions and I don’t recommend changing them by yourself for security.
Hey, I’m a complete newbie at building websites, everytime i paste the code into the .php in dreamweaver and save i still don’t get the store uploads option.
I might be being really stupid here but like I said i’m a complete newbie at this.
Any help?
Thanks!
Hi Andrew,
You need to add the code to the “wp-config.php” file on your website. So download that file using FileZilla or any other FTP software, edit the file and upload it again to your website and replace the file on your website with the edited one.
If this didn’t fix the problem, I’d recommend contacting your host to fix it as the issue might be with file permissions and changing them may affect your website’s security.
All the best.
I have this problem with uploads, I receive the error
“Unable to create directory wp-content/uploads/2017/03. Is its parent directory writable by the server?”
I followed your post and did all that was recommended but still issue was not resolved. I don’t have the text box “store uploads in this folder”
If you don’t see the field “store uploads in this folder”, follow the guidelines above and add the code to your wp-config.php file and if this didn’t solve the problem, you may need to contact your hosting provider.
Thanks for stopping by!
Thank you so much for your help. Problem occurred after migrating to another hosting company. Your fix worked like a dream.
I’m glad to hear that.
Thanks for your comment.
Hello,
I get the same error.And I found out that my wp-content folder does not contain any uploads folder.So possibly it seems as if I have permissions problem.Please suggest.
Hey Nandini,
Try the solution above, and if it didn’t work, you may need to contact your hosting provider.
Thanks.
Hello, I did all the changes you mentioned but still the same. Also there is no Upload section under Settings > Media.
I tried to create it manually through wp-config but no luck, WP Version 4.6.0; Code snippet is as follows –
/** Absolute path to the WordPress directory. */
if ( !defined(‘ABSPATH’) )
define(‘ABSPATH’, dirname(__FILE__) . ‘/’);
/** Sets up WordPress vars and included files. */
require_once(ABSPATH . ‘wp-settings.php’);
define( ‘UPLOADS’, ‘wp-content/uploads’ );
// Setting up Upload Path 9.02.2017
Host is on Godaddy, Windows
Try to check folder permissions and I think you need to contact your host support team.
Change Uploads Folder permissions to 777 and you are done. Thanks!
Thanks fr your comment and glad you could fix it. But you need to consider the security issues with 777 file permission.
Ahmed Elgameel,
Thanks so much. Finally i fixed it my issue.
Glad I could help.
THIS DID IT!!!!!! After hours on Youtube videos this actually did it! Thanks!!!
Glad to hear that.
Thanks for stopping by!
sir. i can’t fix it still error, please help me T-T
Please, provide more info.
when i will change permission 777 or 755 then ok botton
have popup -> transfer log -No errors found.
so can’t change sir.
thank you
Did you try all other ways instead of changing permissions?
yes sir,
1.in my menu setting -> media-> not have( Store uploads in this folder)
2. in “wp-config.php” too’.
T-T
Well, I believe you need to contact your hosting provider and ask them about the problem they might have changed something with your account.
thank you sir. i will contact.
@^-^@ thank you for your help sir.
I hope they can fix the problem
Thanks for your comment.
Thanks man it solved my problem. It too happened when I migrated my site from godaddy to siteground.
Glad it helped you.
hlo sir please help i still have this error [Unable to create directory wp-content/uploads/2016/12. Is its parent directory writable by the server?] please solve thanks.
Hey Amanpreet,
Please provide more info on the error, also take a look at comments below as I think you’ll find a way to fix the error.
Thanks!
Just tried to make some design changes and ran into the same problem. I followed the steps did everything but then I got a new error saying “The uploaded file could not be moved to wp-content/uploads/2016/12.”
Please Advice
Thank you
The reason for this problem may be one of these:
NOTE: DO NOT set it to 777.
Also I suggest that you contact your hosting provider to fix this issue.
Thanks for your comment.
Thank you. I would give it a go and see what happens
Thank you Ahmed for giving so much of your time to help others. I too have had hours of grief using WordPress for the first time (15 years out our IT). 4.7 is the version I loaded onto the server (hosted by zanyspace.com) as a .tar.gz. through the webshell, then decomp into a folder off the root (‘/wordpress’) went through the process of adding in details – server, dbase, UN&PW etc and it installed no prob and I’m signed it :-). However as I start designing, I too found I could not upload any pics and got the same error relating to this blog.
Permission were then set 777 recursively from ‘/wordpress’ [parent folder] off the root, still no luck, so set them back to 775.
I followed the instructions to modify wp-config.php, again with no luck. I then recursively changed permissions to 777 again and voila we have communication!! I can not leave the permissions openly set like this as you would appreciate. Do you have a way the server will see WordPress as either ‘Owner’ or ‘Group’ instead of ‘Other’?
The config on the server seems to have all the correct settings (+ your mod through Textpad).
I have even added an ftp sub-account in the cPannel with the same UN&PW as the mySQL db thinkging it my be a ftp issue but no luck there. The only way for WordPress to allow uploads is with 777 or 007 set from /wp-content on wards and I can’t leave it like this, it’s vulnerable.
Thanks for your comment Andrew,
I think you need to contact your hosting support team to fix this problem.
They should figure out where the problem is and set the correct permissions.
If you need any further assistance, don’t hesitate to drop me a line here!
Thanks it worked .
Glad it could help you.
Thank you so much dear. You saved time
Thanks for stopping by.
Hi, I just connect My web host to WP but Im having this problem too, I did the things you mentioned but nothings shio up in setting/media , could you please help me out ?
Have you tried the second solution and added the codes to your “wp-config.php” file manually?
You can also try to change permissions of “wp-content” folder to 755.
i TRIED BOTH THE THINGS. STILL NO SOLUTION.
Hey Aditya,
Please provide more info on what exactly the error you get so that I can help you more.
Thank YOU! Saved the day on our website.
Glad to hear that!
Thanks for the detailed answer!! Was of great help on fixing this issue 🙂 Regards,
Glad to hear that.
THANK YOU!!!
Thanks for your comment.
Hi, i’ve tried everything you said, and it still doesn’t work.
I can’t see the folder in Settings > Media, even after adding the line to the wp_config.
I’ve tried the 777 method, but that also didn’t work.
Are you using a Localhost or an online host?
If it still not working after changing permissions to 777, change the permissions for the “wp-content/uploads” directory too to 755 or 777.
The cause may also be running PHP in “Safe Mode”. If so, contact your hosting provider to change the owner of scripts and upload directories to belong to your account or ask him to disable Safe Mode.
And let me know if it still not working.
Thanks for your response!
I’m using a online host (a server from my school)
The map “wp-content/uploads” does not exist in my FTP server. I’ve tried creating it manually, but then wordpress returns this error : ‘The uploaded file could not be moved to wp-content/uploads/2016/10.’
Also, letting wordpress install a theme on my site doesn’t work, i keep getting an error, even though i know for sure the information is correct. : http://imgur.com/a/EadwE
As for the PHP safe mode, i’m not sure how i can check that? I can’t contact teachers at this time since it’s vacation.
The problem is with your FTP account, From the screenshot you can easily understand that WordPress can’t connect to the FTP server, so it can’t create any new Directory or file or edit any old one.
I think you need to contact your teachers or your school’s system administrator and ask him to solve the problem with the FTP server.
Hello Ahmed, I am using a Localhost on xampp on a mac. I tried to do exactly what you wrote, but when i edit the wp-config file i get another error:
Parse error: syntax error, unexpected ‘require_once’ (T_REQUIRE_ONCE) in /Applications/XAMPP/xamppfiles/htdocs/nish/wp-config.php on line 91
Kindly assist.
Regards.
Hey Reagen!
The error that you get is mainly because you didn’t edit the wp-config.php file correctly, so try to fix this issue or paste the content of the file and I’ll don my best to solve this issue.
For the “Unable to Create Directory wp-content/uploads. Is its Parent Directory Writable by the Server” error, I think you need to provide more information about what exactly you did? as I mentioned many ways in the article and in comments. For now, you can try checking your Mac user account permissions, as sometimes your account don’t have permissions to edit some folders and those folder may include the Xampp folders.
So either change permissions to 755 or 777 or give your user account full control over the folder.
Thanks so much for this article! It was very helpful!
Thanks for stopping by.
MR. Elgameel,
I am also having this problem. When I try and upload a theme I get the following error:
The uploaded file could not be moved to wp-content/uploads
When I try to upload a picture to post in a blog entry I receive the same error.
I have added the code:
/**added as per wp-me .com suggestion*/
define(‘UPLOADS’, ‘wp-content/uploads’ );
to my wp-config file.
I have permissions setting of 755 on folder “uploads” and it is owned by nobody,nogroups.
I have unchecked the box asking if i want to keep it in a month and day folder.
I have bounced apache and I am at a loss. I have several plugins and a theme to install before going live with this thing.
Can you be of assistance sir?
Kind Regards,
Brad Hamilton
First of all, check the box that asks you to keep it in month and day folder.
Also have you added the code before the other line I mentioned?
Are you using a localhost? or a web hosting account?
waiting to hear from you, and if I couldn’t help you here I can connect with you on Facebook for further assistance!
Thanks for your comment.
I was looking for this because I have this issue as well. But when I checked the Media Settings I have thumbnail sizes and Organize my uploads into month- and year-based folders. > “Store uploads in this folder field enter: wp-content/uploads and click Save changes” isn’t there. No place to add it. I have no way to fix it going about the using this simple answer. I am not sure about the other options I see in comments about other ways to work around this.
Hey Kim,
If you don’t find the field you can add the following code in your “wp-config.php” file:
but, make sure to add the code before this line:
And it should work.
I have no clue where that file would be. In the theme or where? I can’t find it. I check in Editor of the theme and it’s not there. I Google it and found this https://codex.wordpress.org/Editing_wp-config.php Which isn’t helpful, just told me where you find the file. 🙁
If its in WordPress itself and my issue is in a blog , what can be done? 🙁 I have 2 blogs that have this issue.
The file is in the main directory of WordPress.
See this: https://imgur.com/EaEwnB7
Just open it with any text editor like Notepad or Notepad++ (Preferred) then click CTRL+F and search for this line:
and add this code before it:
If you couldn’t do this, send your wp-config.php file to me and I’ll edit it for you.
But It contains sensitive data like you WordPress database username and password.
Thanks!
I have did as this is but i found again error message like “The uploaded file could not be moved to wp-contentuploads.” please solve the problem. I am working on my website on local serve with xammp
Its “wp-content/uploads” not “wp-contentuploads”.
i dont have Store uploads in this folder in my media settings?
If you don’t have the option to change the uploads folder in your media settings page, you’ll need to change it manually.
Open your “wp-config.php” file with any code editor and add this code to it:
I did exactly the code.
but still it’s showing the error!!
Delete the previous code, and use this code:
and make sure to add the code before this line:
IT WORKEDDD!! 🙂
Added the ‘require_once……’ and ‘defin (..);’ but it still didn’t work.
Then changed the permission of [wp-content to 777] and it worked.
Thank you very much, this is my first web site usinf wordpress plus using LAMP stack.
You rock…XD
Glad I could help you.
If you have any problem don’t hesitate to contact us!
Hello Ragnorok, Am facing the same problem i want to know how u changed the permission of wp-content to 777 because my wp-content folder contains 2 folders(plugin folder and theme folder) and index.php but index.php has no code in it.
I have tried all d other answers as sugested by Ahmed but i still get the same error.
Hi gsp,
To change the folder permissions,
1. connect to your website FTP server using FileZilla or any other FTP software.
2. Select the file or folder you want and right-click on it, then click on “File permissions” and enter the permission you want and right click on the folder click OK.
That’s all!
thank u Ahmed for the quick response,
For my case i installed wordpress on local site (using Xammp).but i get this error whenever install a theme or an media image
(Unable to create directory wp-content/uploads/2016/09. Is its parent directory writable by the server?)
Try this,
In your Windows Explorer, go to the folder you want and right-click it, then go to “Properties” » then go to “Security” tap, and change the permissions for the current user to “Full control”.
Let me know if it worked!
thank you Ahamed, i fix it by Right clicking on all the folders and changing the sharing and permission settings to “write and Read”
Glad to hear that.
Enabling FastCGI worked for me. If you’ve tried everything else and nothing works then the problem may be due to WordPress (or similar) itself (ie. the User rather than the target folder) not having access rights. FastCGI (or similar) bridges the gap. Ref: https://docs.plesk.com/en-US/12.5/administrator-guide/web-hosting/php-management/php-handler-types.75145/
It Works for me after changing the Permission of wp-content to 777 thank you Ahmed Elgameel & Ragnorok
Glad to hear that!
Thanks for your comment Juneed.
my exact error is
Unable to create directory wp-content//2016/09. Is its parent directory writable by the server?
but still i have ‘uploads Dir’.
The problem appears to be with the two // in the path “wp-content//2016/09”. Is this error before or after adding the code I gave you?
Simple and very helpful.. thank’s
Glad I could help you!
Hi Ahmed, I read with attention this whole discussion but couldn’t find the answer to my problem I am working on my localhost… and I can’t change the permission… it doesn’t appear when I right click on it… any other ways to do it ? Thanks a lot.
Hi Benjamin and sorry for the late reply,
You can change permissions on localserver by going to the folder you want » Right click on it » Properties » Security » and change the permissions for the current user to “Full control”.